European Union to slash mobile charges


Posted on September 23, 2008  /  0 Comments

Proposals to slash the cost of using mobile phones abroad, for text, data and voice calls, could become law next July following a vote in Brussels.

The European Parliament is to vote on whether roaming costs for text messages should be capped.

The cost of sending a message is expected to eventually fall by 60% from an average of 23 pence to 9 pence.

Voice calls would fall from 36 to 27 pence a minute and customers would be able to set limits on data downloads.

A reluctant mobile phone industry first had limits on its roaming charges imposed by the EU in September 2007.

However, those applied only to voice calls, not those for texting or browsing the internet.

Mobile phone companies were limited to charging a maximum of around 34 pence a minute for making calls, and 17 pence to receive a call.

This is now set to be cut again, if EU Commissioner for telecommunications Viviane Reding’s plans go through.

Customers downloading data would then be able to set a maximum cost level before their service cuts out.

Read the fully story in BBC here.

Comments are closed.